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Jack walks into the lobby of the Four Seasons and glances around for Otto before making his way to the bar. After ordering a Makers Mark manhattan with extra bitters, he starts to relax a bit as the delicate sound of a piano catches his attention. As he waits for his fellow courtier, the good doctor idly looks around the lounge for the source of the music.
Rook glanced up from the piano, and a genuinely warm smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He was always pleased to see Jack around the Hotel- and truth be told, he'd been concerned about Spring's Impassioned Armiger since the hand replacement. The Constable wasn't exactly a medical expert, but he was familiar with severe injuries.
Losing a hand was pretty damn severe, even if the individual involved had sewed another one back on shortly afterwards. He finished his set, closing the lid on the piano as the last few bars of a sharp, improvised blues tune lingered in the air.
"Jack," he said warmly, walking over. His mantle crackled with fusion-flashes, painfully bright white light shining from the rivets in his metal skin. "Good to see you."
3 successes, ignore the 10-again
Otto strolls into the lounge, futzing with his cellphone. The 'calender' feature of the phone still eluded him. Or rather getting event times into the calender and having them remain the correct time was eluding him. Seeing Jack and Rook at the bar Otto mentally sighs "Joy, Tin fingers." The Beast's mantle, while not visible, comes of in waves fresh sea air.
Walking up he gives them both a simple "Hey" and then orders a coffee and a beer. "I haven't been able to get a hold of Stripes since Betony Rue's so he's not going to be making it." The Beast says while looking around for Katie and Sarah. "Any word from Sarah? I'd rather like to have a word with her." he add frowning at the rather massive omission on the Summer officer's part.
"She's not been around the area for some time," Rook said levelly, raising an eyebrow at the otter's appearance. "Thought you'd split as well." There was a flat, mechanical undertone to his voice, and his knuckles whitened very slightly as he restrained the Board.
Even that slight muscle flex was enough to make the bar top creak faintly in protest.
Enemy piece.
The question was long gone, now. Only an enemy abandoned his position. A coward. And there was only one response to cowardice.
Capture.
"Well next time we're in a fleshmarket, we can buy people's freedom with your memories and then you can tell me how wandering around a slave market with regular ass humans in tow is a stress free dillenger of an idea." Otto hissed. He had sent the texts to Tin Fingers, and Jack. Hell he had sent it to Tin Finger's boss as well, not to mention Rick and Katrin too. He hadn't messed up the text, because Caster had responded. There was nothing the old marine would love more than to jam his fist down the self-rightous bastard's throat. "Sarah decided it wasn't a smahsing idea to share little details like that. So you got issues? Take it up with your people." he added with a growl.
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The Spring Armiger visibly brightens at the Summer Constable's appearance.
"Heya Rook, good to see you, too."
Jack idly wonders if he will ever learn the emotionally guarded elemental's real name. Perhaps 'Rook' is who the metalflesh believes himself to be, but the good doctor suspects that there is more to the story.
"Good timing. I'm meeting up with Otto to talk about you know what.
And, speak of the devil..."
The wizened returns the beast's greeting before looking between his two friends with a look that conveys both his discomfort and his impatience.
"Could both of you please get back in your kennels long enough for us to discuss this like adults? Has anyone actually called Stripes or Sarah?"
Rook's not bothering to hide anything. He's disgusted by Otto leaving, and doesn't believe a word that the otter just said. He's also under a great deal of strain, because the Board is clamouring for blood, seeing the sudden decision to run as confirmation that Otto is in fact, an enemy piece.
"Sarah's gone. I haven't seen her since she failed to attend the party at the Forge. If she is still around, she's gone to ground," the Constable said simply. "And you know, let's say I believe you, Otto, and that you didn't just flee like the coward you are, or maybe 'rescued' some woman in the hope that she might give you a thank you screw- you ignored your mission. Not only that, but you ignored the thing that could have cut off the supply of said women, and men, and children, in favour of the little picture. So, at the very best, you're completely incompetent." He sat down next to Jack, every movement carefully controlled. He didn't trust himself to move normally at the moment, lest he forget where objects ended.
"We've got it covered. I got the location, and my group's already converged. No more kidnapping for our formerly tongueless target. Once we've mopped it up, there's plans to work on the market itself. I hear they're pretty hard to dismantle, but we might be able to cut down their supply/demand chain. If there's no call for it, it might well collapse on its own."
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At this moment, Stripes shows up. He glances nervously at the clock on his cell phone, wincing as he realizes just how late he is...
"Sorry, Otto left message saying we're meeting here but had to stay and clean up at convenience store..." Stripes pulls to a halt as he approaches.
Even the tiger is able to pick up on the glare that Rook is giving Otto.
"Get the feeling I missed something important?" Stripes guesses, hesitant to take a seat now.
For humans who only see Otto's Mask, the changeling's face turns red with touches of purple and veins start to bulge in his throat when Rook pronounces him a coward and impotent. For changelings who can see his mien, his fur bristles, his ears fold flat and his claws peak out ever so slightly.
Jack's Empathy roll result?
"Coward!? Incompetent?!" the words bounced around the Beast's head. The Hedge scared the piss out of him and he'd gone into it three times since he'd been in Sacromento when he didn't have to, wasn't asked too. He had stepped into a cage with a Summer King. He had risked mental break downs to help look for Sandra. Coward? And on top of this, the tin plated wanna be human had the gaul to call him incompetent?
"I was running combat mission behind enemy lines on the islands while your parents were playing the 'feel up game' in drive throughs. Mission parameters change and secondary objects present themselves when you're boots on the ground. But you wouldn't know that because all you are is some chestset reject, spent too long with Them to see stopping to rescue a 9 year old girl is a good fucking idea." Otto's voice drops into a growling tone he's never heard from his own throat. He had been shit on Betony and Sarah for stopping to save a little girl and the woman. He wasn't going to take it from them and he sure as shit wasn't going to take it from someone as inhuman as Rook. "And you sure as shit were never parent, cause otherwise you'd be willing to move heaven and earth to save a child." Otto is so incensed he doesn't even notice Stripe's arrival.
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Jack raises a hand in Stripes' direction when the beast walks in the lounge.
"Hey man, how ya doing? Don't mind these two... lovers' spat."
The good doctor manages not to roll his eyes as Rook and Otto continue there verbal sparring, instead he downs the rest of his drink and orders another. He flexes his left hand thoughtfully as they mention the main objective of their trip to the Fleshmarket. The wizened certainly couldn't fault anyone else for being distracted by unusual circumstances.
"Okay. I think Rook is simply saying that he felt abandoned in a hostile environment. Of course plans will change when something unexpected occurs, but no one likes feeling left out of the loop. We all agreed to leave together, so next time please just let us in on what's going on. It sounds like maybe Xer-, uh, Sarah dropped the ball, so let's move on. Now, start from the beginning, Otto. What's this about a nine year-old girl?"
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